Father of accused in murder of Karnataka college student calls for severe punishment for his son
Bengaluru: After the daughter of a Congress corporator in Karnataka was stabbed to death by a former classmate, the father of the accused expressed remorse and called for his son to be "punished in such a way that no man thinks of harassing a woman." The accused, Fayaz, allegedly killed Neha Hiremath, the victim, for rejecting his advances.
Baba Saheb Subani, Fayaz's father, stated that he was shocked by the incident and said that his son should be punished to deter others from committing similar acts. He also apologised to Neha's family, describing her as a daughter to him.
Niranjan Hiremath, Neha's father, revealed that Fayaz had been pressuring Neha to accept his proposal, which she had refused. Despite warnings from Neha's family and others, the harassment continued, leading to Neha's tragic death.
The incident took place on the campus of KLE Technological University, where both Neha and Fayaz were students. Fayaz, who was injured during the attack, was arrested and placed in 14-day judicial custody.
The murder has sparked protests, with demands for justice and safety for women on campus. Members of the Muslim community also staged a protest, calling for severe punishment for the accused.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the incident and directed the state DGP to take stern action against the accused. Leader of Opposition R Ashoka criticised the state's law and order situation, while former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai called for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the incident.
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Broken relationships don't automatically amount to abetment of suicide: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Broken relationships, while emotionally distressing, do not automatically amount to abetment of suicide in the absence of intention leading to the criminal offence, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
The observations came from a bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ujjal Bhuyan in a judgement, which overturned the conviction of one Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi by the Karnataka High Court for the offences of cheating and abetment of suicide under the IPC.
"This is a case of a broken relationship, not criminal conduct," the judgment said.
Sanadi was initially charged under Sections 417 (cheating), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
While the trial court acquitted him of all the charges, the Karnataka High Court, on the state's appeal, convicted him of cheating and abetment of suicide, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and imposing Rs 25,000 in fine.
According to the FIR registered at the mother's instance, her 21-year-old daughter was in love with the accused for the past eight years and died by suicide in August, 2007, after he refused to keep his promise to marry.
Writing a 17-page judgement, Justice Mithal analysed the two dying declarations of the woman and noted that neither was there any allegation of a physical relationship between the couple nor there was any intentional act leading to the suicide.
The judgement therefore underlined broken relationships were emotionally distressing, but did not automatically amount to criminal offences.
"Even in cases where the victim dies by suicide, which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, the courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that the commission of such an offence largely depends upon the mental state of the victim," said the apex court.
The court further said, "Surely, until and unless some guilty intention on the part of the accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for an offence under Section 306 IPC.”
The judgement said there was no evidence to suggest that the man instigated or provoked the woman to die by suicide and underscored a mere refusal to marry, even after a long relationship, did not constitute abetment.
